Jovi's Story....
Jovi came to us the day after Christmas of 2007 and was to be a foster puppy that we would
place in a new home once fully healed. She was 3 months old when we brought her home and
she was an emaciated 4 pounds!!! (A normal, healthy Lab puppy at this age would be somewhere between 20-30 pounds!) Within 2 weeks of quality puppy food and vet care Jovi was an amazing
20 pounds! After having her in our home for a few weeks we realized that the physical
damage was minimal compared to the emotional pain she was suffering from. She was
fearful of new people, was food aggressive, and had severe separation anxiety.
A month and a half after we first rescued Jovi, she was already weighing 30 pounds! She no
longer shows any aggression and has wonderful manners around food. We used strict training,
but gentle techniques to teach her that each meal she ate was not her last meal. Many dogs that
have been starved as severely as this little girl feel that they have to fight for and protect the
meals they do get. Jovi was fearful of cages or crates but what can you expect from a puppy
that was abandoned every time she was left in a cage? She would actually harm herself if put
in a cage, because she was so afraid we would leave her and never some back. Over the
next few months we slowely introduced her to crates. I really didn't care if she ever slept
in a crate at night, but I did not want her to be fearful of anything, so I wanted to see
her conquer this fear. With a lof of training and patience, Jovi has learned that crates
are not bad and she will happily sit in a crate with the door shut without any anxiety.
When we researched Jovi's past, this is what we found out:
Jovi was abandoned on Christmas Day with her dying mom and starving littermates. The mother dog had to euthanized that evening due to her severe medical issues. The smallest puppy died the first night as well leaving only 5 puppies left. The man who owned the mother dog had failed to educate himself in dog rearing when his dog accidentally became pregnant. He put the mother dog in the garage, where she stayed throughout her delivery and raising of the puppies. At 3 months old the litter still had not been weaned! Puppies should be completely weaned by 6-8 weeks old, but this man didn't even notice that these puppies were nursing on a mother with dried up milk. So the only way the puppies survived was by sharing the mother dog's ONE dish of dog food and ONE dish of water. This is why the mother did not survive - she was allowing her puppies to eat instead of her. A neighbor found the puppies and made a deal with the man that they would take the puppies in exchange for not calling the cops or the ASPCA on him. The three boys went to another breeder who was assisting in the rescue and we placed the healthier of the two females with another
foster family who understood the situation and the chances of survival of these poor puppies.
Sadly within a month ALL of the puppies, except for Jovi, had died.
So Jovi is now a permanent member of our happy family and is learning and growing every day. She still suffers from mild seperation anxiety but since I work from home it is very easy for me to be with her and slowely teach her how to be secure. She is now 92 pounds and a very active dog!!! She loves to circle up and herd our horses. We have discovered that she is mixed with Border Collie, which explains this instinct to herd. She is still pretty much glued to me and if I'm out of sight she searches for me, but I have gotten used to having my little "shadow" always at my heels.
